With so many technologies emerging and maturing, this year's CES will be overwhelming and exciting. We'll be taking a close look at three areas in audio: headphones, speakers, and portable media players.

In the headphones space, wireless technology and integration with cell phones are the two hottest topics. Companies like Shure and Skullcandy will be showing off high-end stereo headphones that let you switch seamlessly from listening to your audio player to taking a phone call. And they've married this technology to noise isolation and cancellation to provide a bit of insulation against the outside world.

We're certainly going to check out the new wireless speaker systems from Avega Systems and Anycom. Avega will have what it bills as the world's first 802.11-based speakers on hand, while Anycom will be showing its Bluetooth speakers. We're not crazy about the sound quality Bluetooth audio devices have provided thus far, but we're hoping for a push forward in that area. We're especially interested in Wi-Fi audio offerings since Wi-Fi offers far superior audio quality. Even traditional speakers aren't staying traditional: Innovative companies like NXT and Thiel will be demonstrating some pretty interesting new speaker designs that may make some serious waves.

The portable media player category has exploded in the last year with companies like Archos and Creative putting forth some solid products. The line between PMPs and audio players is even being blurred, with hot products from Cowon, Apple, and iRiver. At CES, we're definitely going to check out Samsung's YM-P1 portable media player, as well as new entries from Dream'eo and Video Without Boundaries. And Creative will be looking to stir up the pot with its new Zen Vision: M, which we're hoping will provide some healthy competition for Apple's video iPod.

As far as digital audio players go, we're not expecting to see any breakthroughs at this CES. Stay tuned, however, as we've heard that quite a few companies will be throwing their hats in this ring, and we're dying to find out what heavy hitters like iRiver and Creative have up their sleeves for next year.

Audio Preview: New Technologies to Emerge

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